Mixing Brands?

What is the thought on mixing brands in your speaker setup,say I have polk towers and I like the sound of a diifferent brand sub.I have a friend that has a totally mixed setup and it sounds OK,is there a technical aspect that would tell me not to do this?I know alot of people run all the same speakers in their HT setup.Or are subs a different animal when matching them to your surround?

Generally I don't like to mix speaker types. its generally a good idea to have your center channel match your front speakers. But the majority of people here do find that subs can be interchangable.

The front three should be of the same make and line within that make. this helps assure a "timbre matched" sound in the front plane.

As for there surrounds, there are two schools of thought.

For HT, you can get away with different make/model of surrounds than the fromt three. It helps if they match each other though. This is because HT uses these for sound effects, ambient sounds and backgtound music. Matching the fronts isn't a show stopper.

For multi-channel music, however, I would recommended that they match the front speakers. Music is music.

As for the subwoofer, the brand used does not come into play here. You can match virtually any subwoofer with virtually any speaker setup. Generally, get the best subwoofer tou can afford. You can always turn it down but you can only turn it up so much.

Please note this may NOT be true in all cases such as with Bose and other "all in one" packages that have integral circuitry for the other speakers contained within them. A good clue that there may be problems here is if all speakers must be connected to the subwoofer.

Mixing the sub is OK, and often better. But if you mix any of the others, the audio-fairy will make you pay.

well,
keep your center and fronts from the same brand, the same range (series), and if possible, the right match.
the rears can be changed, but, this is not recommended, same rule as the fronts in fact, but a little less strict,
the sub on the other hand, can be from a different brand, just make sure it matches with your speakers (in power and size and stuff) if you have huge speakers, don't buy a tiny sub, and when you have small speakers, don't buy the huuge sub, well, you can, but you'll never use it in full operation.

Greetings,
Basite.

Different speaker manufacturers often use different materials to make their drivers. Even the same manufacturers will differ between models. These leave you with different sound characteristics. So when a jet flies by and the sound moves from one speaker to another it may not sound like the same jet. This is just one example.

Subs don't count. Base is a different beast altogether.

Hope this was more helpful than my last post.

Thanks alot,that clears up many questions,I do have the same front brand and make towers and center,so I got lucky there when I bought all three together,I was going to buy a diffrent center,Whew!! I'm just getting my feet wet in the HT arena so I'll probably be asking tons of questions as well as doing searches.I'm not even sure if I need a sub at this point with the towers I bought,they are pretty thunderous by themselves and I'm not sure if there's a sub under 1000.00 bucks that would top them.(my budget on a sub).

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Originally Posted by powerlord

Thanks alot,that clears up many questions,I do have the same front brand and make towers and center,so I got lucky there when I bought all three together,I was going to buy a diffrent center,Whew!! I'm just getting my feet wet in the HT arena so I'll probably be asking tons of questions as well as doing searches.I'm not even sure if I need a sub at this point with the towers I bought,they are pretty thunderous by themselves and I'm not sure if there's a sub under 1000.00 bucks that would top them.(my budget on a sub).

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How about this one for just over half of your budget? It rocks the h.ll out of my house.

Welcome to AR and the HT world.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=300-764

Sweet and thanks. When I competed in DB Drag and USAC we used those Dayton subs for SPL. How do they sound for music?

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Originally Posted by powerlord

Sweet and thanks. When I competed in DB Drag and USAC we used those Dayton subs for SPL. How do they sound for music?

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Love mine. But if you don't mind DIY projects you could put a better one together with their HIGH FIDELITY SUBWOOFER.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=295-468

Costs less, handles less power, but gets higher marks on sound quality. Not that the Titanics are bad. These are just better.

Thanks GMichael,I just ordered one,thats the best deal I've seen so far,the warranty is great and I know the sub personally.Free shipping yeah!!! How long did it take you to get yours shipped?

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Originally Posted by powerlord

Thanks GMichael,I just ordered one,thats the best deal I've seen so far,the warranty is great and I know the sub personally.Free shipping yeah!!! How long did it take you to get yours shipped?

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It arrived at my door two days after I ordered it.

You ordered what? Not just the speaker right? What amp are you getting? Did you order a box or will you build one? Do you have all you need?
Sorry if this seems like I'm insulting you by assuming you didn't do all that you needed to do, but I'd feel bad if you made a mistake because of my advice.

I ordered the MKIII Titanic subwoofer kit,it shows amp,enclosure,sub,and connections for 578.00 free shipping.

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Originally Posted by powerlord

I ordered the MKIII Titanic subwoofer kit,it shows amp,enclosure,sub,and connections for 578.00 free shipping.

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OK, sorry. Yeah, that come complete. You could put it together in about 30 minutes if you know what you're doing. You'll need glue to hold the accustic foam in place and a few minor tools. I love mine.

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Originally Posted by powerlord

I ordered the MKIII Titanic subwoofer kit,it shows amp,enclosure,sub,and connections for 578.00 free shipping.

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You'll be very, very happy.

I, on the other hand, have no problem mixing brands in speakers, amps, speaker wire, sub, power cords, and whatnot.

But you do need to be more careful. Sometimes the receiver won't let you accomodate for slightly different sensitivities, for example.

I built all of our teams SPL enclosures so this should be a piece of cake,I will let ya guys know how it goes.Thanks everybody.And great site so far.

Mixing subs is a good idea IMO. A lot of the speaker manufacturers don't always make the best sub for your room or listening, and you won't have any problems with that. Using something different for surrounds also isn't a big deal (but i'd probably try to avoid mixing klipschorns with something mellow).

A matched system can look nice though :)

You wouldn't believe what happened,my wife got me an Infinity IL120S sub,she told me after she found out I ordered the MKIII,Damn am I lucky or what?Now I either tell her to send the IL back and risk serious bodily harm or send the monster back.Hers was a gift for Xmas.Or keep both and try and figure out which to run again trying to risk bodily injury!

I've never heard anything good about Infinity subs... but I also haven't heard much about them in recent years.

Well I went to the reviews section and I was surprised at the reviews,the overall opinion is they are the best bang for the buck.Boy I've heard that one alot about real bad gear.

Off-brand subs are usually the way to go. Just buy your subwoofer from a reputable subwoofer company (Hsu Research, Velodyne, SVS are probably the best brands till you hit esoteric dollars.). I wouldn't just buy an JBL to spite a Klipsch loudspeaker or vica-versa.

I think you'd do well to keep your 3 front speakers as close as possible, and for HT use, you'll probably never know the difference if you split camps. I'm using PSB in the front and Paradigm surrounds myself.

I don't listen to 5.1 music (DVD-A/SACD), because I think its a tired gimmick. But people who do (listen to it) say the surrounds should match.

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Originally Posted by emorphien

I've never heard anything good about Infinity subs... but I also haven't heard much about them in recent years.

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I got the Infinity Primus matching PS-12 when I bought my speakers. It does a good job but was lacking for my open living space that I'm in now. It sounds great in the bedroom.
To the OP: Here's an idea. How about you keep both subs? The Infinity is a great start on a second system. :ihih:

I think the infinity is too much for my room now even on low levels,yes I got to open my infinity today.I have it set 60hz and below,my tower subs are at 80hz.Should I match these?I just wonder what the Titanic is going to do in this small room?

Small room? How small?
You may have done fine with a smaller sub.